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This article addresses the extent of teachers' knowledge about Training Packages and their attitudes towards and expectations of them. It presents information from current research about competency-based training and reports on teachers and Training Packages. The effects that Training Packages will have on teachers and managers work and staff development, is also discussed.

In conclusion it is reported that awareness of Training Packages in mid-to-late 1998 was fairly low. They represent a big change in the way in which VET will be delivered and will therefore require a great deal of staff training. Show less

A recent study, 'Continuity and change: employers' training practices and partnerships with training providers' [indexed in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 127.03], by researchers from Federation University and the University of Queensland looked into current practices in employer training in Australia. The national study focused on employers' use of nationally recognised training and the role of partnerships between employers and registered training organisations (RTOs). With increasing complexity in the external environment, training staff have become more proactive within their firms. This increasing complexity of the vocational education and training (VET) system has also led to the advent of VET system navigators within RTOs, who act as guides to employers. In this webinar, the lead researchers and spokespeople from partnerships researched in the project will talk about the key findings and what makes for successful long-term partnerships.

Kaye and Adam will talk about the partnership between Australian Paper and Federation Training. The partnership involves the delivery of skill set Emergency Response Training to employees of Australian Paper, a pulp and paper mill in Gippsland, Victoria. Graham and Chris will talk about the partnership established between Elders Australia and Wodonga Institute of TAFE. The partnership involves the delivery of a customised version of the Certificate IV in Agriculture to new and existing stock and station agents employed by Elders across Australia.

Excerpts from publisher's website. Show less

Apprenticeship is increasingly seen as a promising option for policy makers. An apprenticeship offers a chance to find further education and a place in society and the workplace. In an increasing number of countries, apprenticeship is available to mature-aged workers, providing a chance for a career change or re-entry into the workforce. The sixth International Network on Innovative Apprenticeship (INAP) conference was held at the Federation University Australia in Ballarat, Victoria on 1-2 September 2015. The publication contains all the papers presented at the conference. The conference demonstrated the diversity of approaches to apprenticeship in practice. It also highlighted the need to share experiences from country-specific developments and that the learning process and knowledge base of apprenticeship is continuously growing and developing. The most popular themes for papers at the conference were: (1) governance, including stakeholders' roles and responsibilities; (2) vocational education and training (VET) teaching and learning; (3) quality in apprenticeship; and (4) school to work transition and youth employment.

Introductions to the conference were provided by Philipp Gonon, Erica Smith and David Battersby. The keynotes were as follows: Two distinct conceptions of apprenticeship / Stephen Billett; Can traditional apprenticeships in the informal economy of least developed countries be integrated as legitimate pathways in formal skills development systems? [keynote address] / Paul Comyn; Developing T-shaped people: transforming skills into skilfulness to meet the demands of the 21st century workplace / Raymond Patel. Section one, 'Governance and stakeholders', contains the following papers: A history of apprenticeship and trade training in Victoria, Australia / Mike Brown; Exploration and practice of modern apprenticeship training with school-enterprise dual system: a case study of Guangzhou Industry and Trade Technician College / Weiqun Tang; Associations between adaptation of German-style vocational education models and impact on apprenticeship pathways in regional American labour markets / Nicholas M. Wyman and Joanne B. Gedge; Governance and financing of dual VET: foundation of an evaluation framework and findings of a comparative research in five European countries / Ursel Hauschildt and Wolfgang Wittig; Insights in governance of vocational education from a historical perspective / Volker Bank; The governance framework for VET school-enterprise cooperation in China at the local level / Haisheng Pan; Irish apprenticeship system reform 2013 to date / Maurice Doran; Stakeholders in the German and the Swiss VET system and their role in innovating apprenticeships / Thomas Deissinger and Philipp Gonon; Research and practice on 'tripartite collaboration' of innovative apprenticeship / Jinlan Wang and Yuqi Chen; Modern apprenticeship as a supplement to the school based vocational education system in China / Zhiqun Zhao and Junlan Chen; Development and definition of National Occupational Standards (NOS) as the curriculum basis for vocational education and training (VET) / Willi Peterson and Maik Jepsen; Why apprentices drop out in Australia and the policy implications / Phil Loveder. Section two, 'Teaching and learning in apprenticeships', contains: Competence measurement in South Africa: teachers' reactions to feedback on COMET results / Helen Brown; Research on the modern apprenticeship based on the talents training mode of the national skill master studio: the construction of the Lingnan Industrial Art Inheriting Base / Ye Junfeng and Luo Wei; Me siento bien en mi centro de formacion - I feel good at my training institution: results of an international competence assessment in nursing / Ursel Hauschildt; Teaching and learning research in master studio apprenticeship training / Bamei Yang, Kejing Li, Bin Bai and Enmin Zhai; School-based technician training under the framework of modern apprenticeship: experiences from a pilot program in Guangzhou / Donglian Gu; Improving the dynamics of feedback through deploying mobile technology-enhanced learning during pre-apprenticeship / Selena Chan; Skilled trade worker to a teacher of high school youth: a little bit of luck and a lot of courage / Bonnie Watt; Pre-apprenticeships towards apprenticeships using practice-focused learning / James Cannan; Learning as an apprentice: a comparative study on affordances for vocational learning in school and work life apprentice education / Magnus Fjellstrom and Per Kristmansson.

Section three, 'What makes a high quality apprenticeship', contains: Working process knowledge acquiring and working tasks research: a case study of technician apprenticeship training in Guangzhou Technician College / Xiang Geng, Bin Bai, Bamei Yang and Enmin Zhai; On motivations, predicament, and countermeasures of the modern continuation of China's handicraft apprenticeship / Liangcai Xie; Using apprenticeship as a whole-of-workforce training strategy: what are the effects on training quality? / Erica Smith; Efficacy of CBQ (cost benefit and quality) as an advisory tool to optimise cost-effectiveness and quality development of in-company apprenticeship training / Lusanda Bantwini and Tsholo Mungoni. Section four, 'Economic investment and benefit of apprenticeship', contains: A qualitative assessment of the United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP) / Robert I. Lerman and Devlin Hanson; Concerns, costs and calculation for apprenticeship: who invests? who benefits? how? / Michaela Marterer and Peter Hartel. Section five, 'School to work transition and youth employment', contains: Creating pathways to enhance college to work transition using COMET competence diagnostic model to assess and develop occupational competence and commitment in technical vocational education and training (TVET) / Patricia Jacobs; Application and contrastive analysis of the different apprenticeship training modes for automobile majors: taking Guangzhou Communications Technician Institute as an example / Cai Changwen; Higher apprentices' transition from school to work: case analysis on the education of technicians in Guangzhou Technician College, in China / Zongguo Li and Hao Wu; Working their way to school completion: school-based apprenticeships and traineeships for young Australians / Kira Clarke, Malgorzata Klatt, Nicky Dulfer and Emlyn Cruickshank. Section six, 'Status of apprenticeship as a career path', contains: Apprenticeships should work for women too: supporting meaningful exploration of 'non-traditional careers' for young women / Linda Simon and Kira Clarke. Section seven, 'Apprenticeship's contribution to social justice', contains: The development of skills for sustainability for Australian apprentices and trainees during the UN Decade of Education and Sustainable Development 2005-2014 / Mike Brown and Fabian Sack; A quest for social justice: exploring the possibility of expanding the South African apprenticeship system to provide access to informal apprentices / Ansa Leibenberg. Additional presentations [full papers not submitted] were: Preparing TVET graduates from small Pacific nations for international employment / Antoine Barnaart; Apprenticeship in former Soviet Union countries: the role of employer organisations and intermediary bodies / Didier Gelibert and Helmut Zelloth; Women in the auto trades: views from employers, tradeswomen and apprentices / Hugh Guthrie, Anne Jones and Berwyn Clayton; The role of regional occupational standards and potential for apprenticeships in ASEAN countries / Bob Paton. Show less

The expertise and professionalism of teachers is vital in vocational education and training (VET), as it is in any other education sector. As 'dual professionals', VET teachers need to keep abreast of their industry or discipline area as well as maintaining and improving their pedagogical skills and knowledge. VET workplaces (colleges and vocational schools) are important sites of learning for these matters. This paper draws together and analyses the findings from the other papers in this special issue, finding that VET workplaces contribute to teachers' learning both as a part of pedagogical qualifications (in 'teaching practice' components) and as part of continuing professional learning. The paper draws on a previous theoretical model and the findings in the papers to propose a number of categories of workplace learning: learning that is taught, sought, wrought, caught, brought, and thought. These could be applied to any occupation. Finally, the contribution of teachers' personal attributes to the extent and nature of their site-based learning is examined, using the data in the papers to develop further a previous model of VET teacher professionalism.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This paper explores the implications for assessment of embedding qualifications from the vocational education and training (VET) sector within university qualifications. As VET qualifications are now all competency based, assessment in the two sectors is quite different, since universities have generally eschewed competency-based training and assessment. A general discussion of the issues is followed by the results of a small-scale research study carried out in the VET discipline area itself, with participants drawn from the AVTEC [Australian Vocational Education and Training Teacher Educators’ Colloquium] list of VET teacher-educators. Telephone interviews were conducted with nine Australian university academics involved with such qualifications; and data were extracted from a broader study of students who had undertaken the Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training embedded within degrees and graduate diplomas in VET at one of these universities. It is clear that there are many assessment challenges involved with the practice of embedding, which have not yet been systematically addressed.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This chapter provides an overview of [vocational education and training] VET in Australia. It examines the extent of VET activity, the nature of training providers (public and private), the nature of VET learners, and the major bodies involved in the administration and development of the system. The nature of teachers' work is briefly discussed, with particular reference to the diversity of contexts in which it is practised. An introduction to VET policy is provided, with consideration of regulation, funding, and issues that are of concern currently and into the future.

Published abstract. Show less

In Australia, approximately 3.5 per cent of the working population is employed in apprenticeships and their newer counterparts, traineeships (both of these are combined under the title of ‘Australian apprenticeships’). While apprenticeships were originally intended for young school leavers, they are now open to people of all ages and to part-time as well as full-time workers. The huge growth in numbers, over 300 per cent since the mid-1990s, has been the result of very conscious planning and financial investment by the Australian Government. This paper, using data drawn from a series of research projects, analyses the different agencies that help to promote and manage the apprenticeship system. The paper points out both positive and negative effects of the large numbers of agencies involved.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 101.305. Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 101.306 to TD/TNC 101.319. Show less

Little has been published in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) literature on the topic of pre-apprenticeships, which are a loose type of preparatory courses for apprenticeships available in some trades. Nevertheless, pre-apprenticeships have been in existence for several decades. With continuing concern over skill shortages in Australia, the research study on which this paper is based investigated the role of pre-apprenticeship courses in addressing skill shortages in the electrotechnology, automotive and engineering trades, some of the largest 'traditional trades' in Australia, and those with sizeable numbers in pre-apprenticeships. The principal objective of the overall study was to determine whether the use of pre-apprenticeships increased the size and suitability of the supply of entrants to the traditional apprenticeships and whether pre-apprenticeships do or might increase completion rates in apprenticeships. The paper uses findings from the study to develop a typology of pre-apprenticeship courses, proposing two fundamental orientations and discussing whether different orientations towards pre-apprenticeships are compatible with one another.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This paper reports on a research project conducted in 2020 with vocational education and training (VET) teachers in Australia. The project is currently being extended. The project analysed teacher accounts where they described difficult teaching situations in VET and how learning theories explain the situations, and also how learning theories could prevent similar situations arising in the future. The main topics mentioned in the teachers' accounts can be grouped as follows: (1) students were disruptive because they didn't see a need to know; (2) the content was difficult for the students; (3) the content was difficult for particular students because of learning needs or lack of skills; (4) the teaching was boring; and (5) students' personal circumstances made learning difficult (refugee status, long-term unemployed).

The research so far has shown that VET teachers find that using learning theories is a useful way to make sense of teaching situations and consider how to improve them. It is hoped that the study, through provision of current Australian examples, will assist VET teachers and can be used in teacher-training studies at all levels and also in professional development.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less